Smart Capture™ for Linux® - Interview with Ike Kavas, Ephesoft CTO

Earlier this year, Ephesoft released an updated software platform with robust new features for end users. Entering Q4, Ephesoft is releasing Smart Capture™ for Linux®. Why Linux®?Ephesoft software – by design – is a perfect match with Linux®. About 80% of internet servers and data centers run on the Linux® operating system. Our existing customers are increasingly installing Ephesoft software at data centers, so it made perfect sense to extend our reach to the Linux® universe.Ephesoft was created to run at data centers, the cloud, thin-client, and as a web-based platform. We are the most versatile intelligent document capture platform on the planet, and our support of Linux® further proves that.What’s the difference between the Windows® and Linux® editions?They are essentially identical. Ephesoft software was originally developed in Java. Java is a cross-class platform, which runs on both Windows® and Linux®. One component we had to adjust was the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) engine, which runs behind the scenes of the software. It was quickly updated and optimized to work in a Linux® environment.Ephesoft makes it easy to inject documents via scan, email, file share polling, or import. Once the documents are uploaded, they are placed through the OCR process. The documents go through classification, extraction, review and validation. Documents are exported to the back-end system such as SharePoint, Documentum and Alfresco. It is a very efficient and effective system using either our Linux® or Windows® editions.The user interface, product functionality and product features, all remain 99% the same.Is this a “Game Changer” for Ephesoft? Not just for Ephesoft but for the whole Document Imaging industry! Ephesoft stands as the only intelligent document capture company with a Linux® product. Customers have been requesting this type of technology for years. We have now delivered it, and we expect imitators to start popping up.Ephesoft is a partner-centric company. We share everything with our systems integrator partners. We will help them adapt to this new technology and maximize its potential. Many of our partners are very open source and Linux® savvy, but some are not. Working closely with them and offering assistance whenever they need it will help our partners stay a step ahead of the competition.How will this product stack up against the competition?As you know, there is intense competition in the document capture industry. But Ephesoft’s new product sets the new standard for the Linux® environment. I’m happy to say this powerful and advanced new product will create headaches for the competition.Where do you see Smart Capture™ for Linux® heading in the future?From a sales perspective, Europe is ready to embrace the Linux® operating system, and we are ready to take advantage of that. European customers have been demanding a Linux OS for years, and many companies that have purchased Ephesoft’s Windows® edition are asking to switch. In the United States, President Obama recently issued an unprecedented Paperless Initiative. The initiative states all permanent electronic records in Federal agencies must be managed electronically. Government contracts require open source and Linux® be made available.In the commercial sector, Fortune 500 companies usually go one of two routes. One group manages its own data centers with a hybrid of Windows® and Linux®. The second group outsources to Amazon Web Services™, Microsoft® Azure, or Rackspace™. Those services are offered in Windows® and Linux® platforms. The Linux version is the most cost-effective option.Ike predicts that in as little as six to eighteen months, Linux® will represent the majority of Ephesoft sales.